Dementia patient abuse allegation

Dementia patient abuse allegation - The West Australian

A carer at Joondalup hospital has gone on trial accused of simulating sex with an elderly dementia patient, and then fleeing the country before he faced court.

Brian Reid, 62, is accused of indecently dealing with the 84 year-old woman while he was supposed to be caring for her at the hospital last February.

Reid was the only carer on the 25-room ward when he was assigned to provide one-on-one care for the elderly woman, who was deemed a fall risk and had been aggressive towards staff in the past.

But just minutes into her night shift Hillary McLachlan, the nurse in charge of the ward, was left stunned when she walked in on Reid allegedly lying on top of the woman and simulating sex with her as she lay motionless in the bed.

"I was so shocked and abhorred by what I saw it took me a second to collate it. It was a simulated sex act - what I would call ’dry humping’" Ms McLachlan told the jury at WA District Court

"I shouted at him: ‘What the hell do you think you are doing?’ He patted her face and told her ’It’s alright’, and then got off the bed."

Reid denies the charges, telling the court the woman had grabbed his lanyard and collar as he leaned over to check her breathing, causing him to lose his balance and topple onto the bed.

“What she saw was me trying to get up,” Mr Reid said.

The court heard Reid breached his bail by flying to Britain before a scheduled court date last year, and was arrested on his return months later.